


Autumn

by AileenJones



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bullying, F/M, Fluff, Minor Sollux Captor/Aradia Megido
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-06
Updated: 2014-03-06
Packaged: 2018-01-14 15:56:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1272475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AileenJones/pseuds/AileenJones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tavros has always loved autumn, the colors the smell... but that's not all that's on his plate</p>
            </blockquote>





	Autumn

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JenniferScott](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JenniferScott/gifts).



> Happy Birthday Friend :)

You make your way toward the school.  You hear the crunch of maple leaves beneath you and bright reds, yellows and oranges assault your vision.  Summer is finally fading into fall and you can’t see yourself being any happier about it.  Your breath hangs in the air in front of you, embodying the only downside to the season that you love so much: it’s getting colder.  It’s not really a problem, but the school is so far from your house.  You understand why your dad can’t take you, you understand why you have to force yourself down the road every morning.  It’s just that it would be easier if you weren’t hindered by your bulkier clothing.

 

But like you said, it isn’t a problem.

 

You just make the trek to the school like all the other kids, crushing the leaves before the rain takes their voices away.  You just wish the journey was your only not-problem.

 

“Nitram!” a voice calls from behind you right as you’re about to go into the school.  You cringe at the abrupt harshness in their tone and turn around slowly and deliberately.  Oh, jegus, it’s Eridan.

 

“What, are you deaf? I said get over here!” he calls, his pretentious accent, which your classmates think makes him a bigger douche, intimidates you into going over to him, “Do you have it?” you stare at him blankly, completely floored by his statement, “Nitram!” you snap out of it, “Are we gonna have a problem here?” you shake your head minutely and reach into your bag.  He snatches the paper out of your hand, “This had better be right,” he glances over at you long enough to make sure you’re nodding your confirmation, which you are, “Good,” he grins his shark-tooth grin at you making you tense up, ready for some sort of attack.  Instead, he reaches his hand out and ruffles your mohawk with a, “Thanks, man,” tacked onto the end; his voice mimics that of an owner speaking to their pet.  You’d like to say you were going to tell him off before your bag was emptied on the ground, but in all honesty, you were just praying he was done taunting you.  You look down at your stuff and sigh as Eridan walks away, laughing to himself as he goes.

 

You stare at it a moment longer before you set the break on your wheelchair and start picking up your papers and books by yourself.  Again.

 

Your name is Tavros Nitram and this is definitely not a problem. 

 

* * *

 

You get out of your mom’s van and sign a quick, “I love you,” at her before you turn to meet the day.  You take a deep breath in through your nose and let the air rush out of your mouth, a pleased smile settling on your face.  Fall at last; your grin widens.

 

“Nepeta, could I convince you to take a step to your left?” you jump a little and turn to see your brother trying to climb out of the van, but you are blocking his way.

 

“Whoops! Sorry Equius!” and, just to spite him, you take a step to your right.  he climbs out and the two of you walk toward the front entrance, your clip-on-tail bumping reassuringly against the back of your legs.  The two of you are about to go inside, but something shiny catches your attention.  You automatically turn to find the source and see that its a boy; well not the _boy_ , but his wheelchair.  The boy is bent over double and seems to be picking up his stuff.  He must have dropped it.

 

You immediately leave Equius’ side, gesturing for him to wait for you, and rush over to help the boy with the mohawk.  Once the two of you have everything off the ground, you hand his papers back to him, “Here you go!”  You smile at him.

 

He seems nervous, but he responds with a simple, “Thank you,” while stuffing his books in his brown, ragged shoulder bag.

 

“So, what’s your name?” you ask as he busies himself with his bag; he had finished putting his things away, but you guess he’s waiting for you to leave.  You won’t be having any of that.  He’s not responding, just... fiddling, “I’m Nepeta, and that’s Equius,” you point to your overly muscled companion, still waiting by the entrance to the school, sweating up a storm.

 

The boy does a double take in Equius' direction before looking at his motionless knees in embarrassment, “I-Is he your boyfriend, or-?”  You can’t help but giggle at this.  You and Equius? Together? The thought is so preposterous that it almost masks the guilt you feel for making him blush like that.

 

“No, no.  Oh, _gog_ , no!”  you grin at him and he looks like he wants to disappear, “he’s my brother.” His head snaps up to you with a shock written in beautifully etched letters on his face before he gets himself under control.  You think it’s cute how expressive his face is.  His eyes flash between the two of you, no doubt trying to find some sort of similarity between your faces.  You decide to spare him the pain of asking, “He was adopted,” his mouth makes a circular “o” shape.

 

“Nepeta,” you hear Equius’ voice rumble behind you.  You turn and stick your tongue out at him.  There will probably be about ten seconds before he comes over to carry you to class by the scruff of your neck.

 

“Well, I gotta go.  I’ll catch you later...” you trail off, hoping he’ll fill in the blank with his name.  He doesn’t so you turn and make your way back to your brother.

 

“T-Tavros,” you hear from behind you, as faint as a mouse when compared to Equius’ loud, boisterous voice.  You turn back and look at him, his warm, brown eyes skirting to the side when he notices your bright green ones are looking at him, “My name’s Tavros.”  You smile at him with genuine satisfaction; almost as satisfied with his words as you are with the season.

 

“I’ll catch you later then, Tavros.”

 

Your name is Nepeta Leijon and you want to get to know this boy. 

 

* * *

  

You stare after her like the brainless boy you are.  Her short, curly, dark hair bounces as she walks toward her... brother (the idea is so strange to you).  When she reaches him, she jumps onto his back without warning.  You would think he would have fallen over, but you suppose he’s either too used to it or built too much like a rock, because he doesn’t even stumble forward as she clambers her way up onto his shoulders like a cat, a tail hooked to her belt-loop bouncing happily against his spine.  What a curious creature...

 

You roll off to class and, for once, you are on time.  You make your way over to your personal, desk-sized table without disrupting the class and you finally get to see exactly how chaotic your soon-to-be-asleep classmates are before the bell rings.  It almost feels unnatural, but you can't get that girl out of your head long enough to care.  Why was she being nice to you? was the question that kept popping into your head.

 

Why was she being nice to _you_?

 

Why was _she_ being nice to you?

 

 _Why_ was she being nice to you?

 

All have the same words, but the implications are vastly different.  Everyone in the school knows that _you_ are not someone who should have friends.  For some, it's because they have this diluted superiority complex and for others, well, it's because they're afraid of the first group.  Who in their right mind would want to take all that bullying, take all the beatings, just to be friends with a stuttering paraplegic?  You suppose _she_ would? Maybe?

 

Who even _is_ she?  You're almost sure you've never seen her before.  Maybe she's new to the school?  You can't be sure about that and, if you're being completely honest, you aren't all that great with faces.  Now the only question is...

 

_Why?_

 

Your name is Tavros Nitram and you've never been this confused over a girl before... 

 

* * *

 

The lunch bell finally rings and you rush over to Equius' desk before tugging him to his feet and dragging him out of the classroom.  You have every intention of watching where you're going (you had accidentally knocked over a girl wearing a long skirt when you were going to Chemistry with Equius, it make you feel bad that you got her beautiful clothes dirty) but there was just so much to talk about!  It's a new school with so many new people to meet and talk about!  How in the world could you ever-

 

You almost miss Tavros rolling past the two of you, but, much to Equius' confusion, you abruptly turn around and grab the handles of his wheelchair to stop him, "Where do you think you're going?" His shoulders scrunch up to his ears as though you were going to try to tickle his neck or something and that just makes you want to ruffle his cute little mohawk.  You do so with a light giggle before coming around front so he can see you.  He visibly relaxes when he sees that it's just you.  Then he blushes and it makes your grin even wider.

 

"O-Oh, hey, Nepeta," he says, eyes darting around like he's looking for someone.  You look over your shoulder, trying to identify this unknown person, but quickly give up before turning back to him.

 

"I was wondering if you would like to eat with me and Equius," you say, gesturing to the mass that is your patient brother, "We're new here and we'd like to eat with you," he still seems to be looking for someone, "unless you have other plans...?"

 

"What?" he says, attention snapping back to you, "No! Uh, I mean... no.  I don't have any plans, heh," he starts picking at his shirt.

 

"Okay! Let's go!"  Not really thinking the action through, you go back behind him and start wheeling him toward the cafeteria.  You realize that probably thought of it as impolite, but he wasn't complaining so...

 

The three of you begin the walk to the cafeteria when Tavros accidentally drops his pencil.  You all stop and Equius returns the utensil to him.  You are about to continue pushing him, but Tavros stops you, "You don't have to, um, push me..."

 

"It's okay," you say with a smile even though he can't see you, "I don't mind."

 

"No, really, you don't have to..."

 

"Please, I insist!" you say cheerfully.

 

"Nepeta," Equius rumbles, placing a hand on your shoulder.  You look up at him and he flashes his eyes to your hands and then shakes his head.  You shrug and remove your hands from the chair.

 

"Okay," you say, trying not to sound deflated, Equius gives you another look, "Sorry, Tav."

 

Air sort of rushes out of Tavros and blood fills his cheeks as he quickly replies, "No! No, it's okay, it's not a big deal!"

 

"No, it's alright," you climb up on Equius, "What was I talking about?"

 

"Ms. Lalonde," Equius supplies.

 

"Oh yeah!  Is she always drunk during class?" you ask Tavros.

 

"Most days," he states.

 

"That doesn't seem very mature, especially while working with bunsen burners," Equius adds, his voice returning to his normal, gentler tone.  This seems to surprise Tavros, based on the way his head jerks up to look at him.  You giggle, "Alcohol and fire do not mix."

 

Your name is Nepeta Leijon and you've made your first friend.

 

* * *

 

It hadn't turned out as poorly as you'd expected.  For once, the food was pleasant and you didn't have to eat alone in some empty classroom on the other side of the school.  There wasn't really anyone trying to pick on you (you suspect you have Equius to thank for that) and it was almost as if you were welcome.

 

Wow, you think you have a problem.

 

But that's beside the point.  You don't imagine your issue with be that, well, problematic anymore.  Like you said, you have Nepeta and Equius now.  Well, at least you think you do.  You mean you don't necessarily want to say that they're yours because that's not a very nice thing to say.  People don't actually belong to other human beings.  That's like slavery.

 

What the hell are you even saying.

 

Well, you suppose you can't blame yourself _entirely_ , after all, life for you has changed drastically over the past week.  Your new friends had offered to drive you to school in the mornings when they learned that you had to get yourself to school every morning.  You had declined their first offer, not wanting to bother them, but then they found out how far you actually live from the school and then they, mostly Nepeta, insisted.  You still have to get home by yourself, Nepeta has karate practice right after school and Equius, to no one's surprise, joined the wrestling team, but you don't mind.  Like you said before, you enjoy the seasonal smell in the air.  But the free rides to school aren't even the best part of it, it's the fact that you are rarely seen without your friends that really makes it a pleasure.  Not only do you really enjoy their company, they're great people and you wouldn't trade them for the world, but there also seems to be something about them that keeps all the bullies away from you and you couldn't be happier about it.  You haven't had a fresh bruise since you met them and your old ones are nearly invisible now.  You feel it's making you more confident.

 

And now, it's been nearly two weeks since the three of you first sat down for lunch together and now when you sit at your regular table, there are twelve other people there beside you.  It really surprised you when you'd discovered just how quickly Nepeta could make friends.  You've known most of them since kindergarten, heck, your best friend from day one is sitting two seats away from you, eyes bloodshot and hair sticking up at weird angles.  It hurt you quite a bit when you found out he was involved with drugs, you stopped being friends after that, but he never acted like he disliked or hated you.

 

But now the lunch bell rings and everyone starts packing their stuff up to get to class and you notice vaguely that Karkat it throwing a fit about Sollux kidnapping his laptop.  Said thief is grinning madly with his arm slung around Aradia's shoulders and Karkat's distinct red and black laptop bag hanging between them.  You grin over at them and barely catch a glimpse of Sollux and Aradia's lips connecting, no doubt to piss Karkat off, but it made your heart go "Aw!" nonetheless.

 

You turn to Nepeta, who is looking at you expectantly, before smiling at her. "Ready?" you ask and she nods, standing behind your chair and wheeling the two of you off to English.  The two of you discovered on the first day that you have your last two classes, English and Art, together and everyday, she wheels you to your classes.  Having her take you places bothered you at first, you had been so used to other people controlling your chair being a very bad thing, and you know Equius had tried to get her to stop at first, but now that she's been doing it for a while, you are starting to feel more secure about it.  More safe.  But only when it's her.  Yes, only when it's her.

 

Class, as per usual, consists of the two of you rigorously passing notes, usually it has some sort of role play going on, you discovered early on how into it she is, but today was different.

 

_*nl glances up at tavros and licks her paw, special news fresh in her mind* Tavros? My karate instructor is sick today, do you want a ride home?_

 

You glance out the window to check the weather and see that it's raining, you grimace lightly.  You don't have a problem with rain in general, in face, you sort of like it, but when you have had to walk who knows how far in the thick of it for three days...

 

_*tn grimaces at the weather* only if it's not too much trouble_

You pass it back to her stealthily (you are proud of the fact that the two of you haven't been caught) and wait eagerly for her reply.  She taps your shoulder twice and you feel the note sliding in between your back and the chair, you move your hand as if to scratch your neck and when the teacher isn't looking, you bring the note to your lap.

 

_*nl meows in an excited manner* alright! I have to get my stuff after art, but you can meet me out front!_

 

_*tn smiles wickedly* it'll be like a... uh... rendevous? is that how you spell it?_

 

_*nl giggles at tn, silly little kitten* rendezvous :33_

 

The two of you then settle into your usual playful role playing and quite an impressive plot unravels before your very eyes if you do say so yourself.

 

* * *

 

Now you're sitting.  In the rain.  By yourself.  Great.

 

You are waiting for Nepeta outside of the school, just as she suggested you do, but you hadn't imagined that she could have that much to grab.  You just sit there anyway.  Waiting.  You suppose you would get in her mom's car... no you wouldn't,  that's not the kind of person you are.  You are gentlemanly, despite your severe lack of confidence, and a gentleman will wait in the rain for his companion no matter how long he has to sit there getting... soaked.  It doesn't matter anyway, her mom's van is no where in sight anyway.

 

That's when you hear something that hasn't touched your ears in a long time.  The heavy footsteps on the pavement, the unmistakable laughter, the aura of power that you can feel even with your back turned.  It's Eridan.  You. Are. Screwed.

 

"Well, well, well.  What have we here?" you feel a set of hands grab your wheelchair and pushing you toward the stairs.  You start panicking, trying your best to get yourself as attached to the chair as possible.  You do not want to fall off, especially not now, "Haven't seen you around lately, Nitram," he gets you to the edge of the first step and leans the chair so that you are just barely able to stay in your seat.  You start whimpering, "Did you miss me?" he leans you just a little bit farther and you can feel yourself starting to slide out of the chair, bit by little bit, "My grades are starting to fall, Nitram.  I hope my teacher will let me turn in all the late work that you didn't do because if they don't accept it late," he tilts the chair a bit farther and you definitely are going to fall out in a heap if he does that again, "a flight of stairs will be the least of your worries," you get the impression that he's about to dump you, so you close your eyes and curl up in as tight a ball as your disabled form can manage.

 

"What do you think you're doing!" you hear from a little ways away, Eridan pauses, "You put him down RIGHT. NOW."

 

Eridan turns to look at who the voice is coming from, but you already know who it is.  What surprises you is a) how fast she's running toward the two of you and b) the look of absolute fury on her face, a look that makes you want to cry out in fear.  But she's not the only one there, Equius is barreling after her, he may not be the quickest person on the block, but Eridan will be needing a doctor if he's not gone by the time their large, sunglass-wearing classmate gets to them.  Eridan must know this as well because he takes off like a shot and you find yourself falling back to the safety of solid ground, heart hammering and breathing ragged.

 

Nepeta reaches you in an instant and Equius is only a few paces behind her, he looks where Eridan went, but decides there is no use in trying to catch him.  Nepeta leans down in front of you, "Are you alright?" her voice is tensed with panic.

 

"I-I'm alright," her hands busy themselves around your face, checking for injury, no doubt, but her hands are shaking, "Nepeta," you grasp her hands lightly and hesitantly in yours, "I'm okay," she gives you a look as though she doesn't believe you and you just look back at her for a moment before you break eye contact and blush.

 

She seems to believe you, or accept that you don't want her fussing over you, because she straightens up and looks after where Eridan had left, "How long has this been going on?" she asks when her attention returns to you.

 

"Uh..."

 

"Tavros," Equius says, and not in the gentle voice you've grown used to.  You mumble your response, not really wanting them to try and do something about it.  Today was a freak thing after all!  You're typically not even here at this point in the day anyway.  Nothing has been going wrong at all and you don't want them to think that they have to do more than they already have.

 

"Sorry," Nepeta says, leaning toward you and getting right up in your face.  It doesn't make you nearly as nervous as you imagine it should have, "I didn't quite catch that."

 

"Four years..." you say, trailing off.  Equius just blinks at you, but Nepeta straightens herself and then pinches the bridge of her nose.

 

"Jegus, Tav, what are we going to do with you?" she turns to Equius, "I think we're fine, you're going to be late for practice," he raises he eyebrow at her, you're not sure why, before nodding and running back towards the locker room.  Nepeta then turns to you and you set the break on you chair, already anticipating her next move.  And sure enough, she climbs into your lap and settles there as comfortably as would a cat, her head resting lightly on your shoulder.  She doesn't say anything for a moment, an occurrence that goes against the very nature of her being.  You must have really worried her.

 

"I'm sorry," you say, not being able to think of anything else.

 

"Sorry for what?" she replies, her voice completely devoid of emotion.  She's beginning to scare you a little.

 

"For, uh, making you worry, I guess..." you trail off.  Maybe you should just stuff your foot in your mouth.  That would be a good solution.  That way, you could never sound like an idiot ever again.

 

"Yeah..." you're both silent.  She takes many breaths during this time, as though she is trying to come up with something to say.  You can't be sure, though, because, for some reason, the two of you are still sitting under the downpour.  She finally seems to get a hold on her thoughts, "Why do you do this?"

 

You are slightly taken aback, "W-what?"

 

"You are such a nice person.  You're adorable, you're funny and overall, you are really wonderful when you let yourself out of your shell, but then you go and-" she collects herself, "then you go and let yourself be bullied like that." She looks up at you, "You are such a strong person, Tavros," you look down at her, her long lashes flashing furiously against the rain.  Or, as she would put it, _furriously_ , "You are loved by so many people, there are so many people who want to see you warm and safe," you try and look away when a blush start to form on your cheeks, but she grabs you chin between her thumb and forefinger and holds you in place, "there are so many people out there who hurt when you hurt," in your peripheral vision, you can see the iconic reds and oranges of the oak trees, "who are worried when you're frightened," the wind picks up and whips around the two of you, chilling your wet clothing in the best way possible, "who can't help but smile when you laugh!" the thick raindrops make beautiful pinging noises as they hit the tin roof of the storage shed about a hundred meters away from the two of you, "So do me a favor, okay?" you feel your hair matting itself against your head, "Make me smile," the rain is starting to let up, "make sure I'm not worried," the smell in the air is turning from one of heavy rain back to the familiar scent of the season that you love so much, "and for Gog's sake," the rain is barely a drizzle now, "do _not_ get yourself hurt."  You don't know how or why, but throughout her whole speech, she seemed to rise above you even though neither of you had moved; there's something about her, you don't know what exactly it is, but for some reason it drives you to...

 

brush your lips against hers.

 

Your name is Tavros Nitram and this is quite a girl...

**Author's Note:**

> This was SO much fun to write! So fun that I'm actually starting to ship it now! But yeah, I know it ended on not the best note, so I'll make this a two-shot if people think that it's worth pursuing :) Thank you for reading!


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